Ernie's Great Outdoors

BACKYARD  BIRD-WATCHING TAKE A CRACK AT THE GREAT NUTHATCH HUNT BY ERNIE COWAN Getting kids interested in birdwatching might be as simple as adding a little excitement. And what could be more exciting than the Great Nuthatch Hunt of 2017? Spring is the perfect time to grab those binoculars, put on comfortable hiking shoes and head east to our oak woodlands and pinewoods in search of nuthatches. There is even a bonus bird for the overachiever. There are three nuthatch species found in San Diego County, and they range from relatively common and easy to find to somewhat rare and more challenging. The beginning nuthatch hunter should easily locate the white-breasted nuthatch. This is the largest of the three species, but it’s hardly large, measuring slightly less than 6 inches in length. As the name implies, it has a distinctive white breast that extends up and around the eyes, and a black cap that extends to gray-blue feathers on the back. This year-round native is the most widely di...

ERNIE COWAN  Outdoors SIT BACK AND ENJOY NATURE’S ANNUAL SPRING PARADE It may not be marching bands and floats, but nature’s annual spring parade is about to begin as longer days and warmer weather awaken San Diego’s backcountry from its winter chill. A drive into the oak woodlands or pine-covered mountains will give you a hint of things to come. Fields are painted in brilliant green; blankets of tiny yellow goldfields are starting to carpet grassy meadows like paint slowly spreading from a spilled bucket, and daffodils are lining the highways to Julian like a cheerful welcoming committee. Migrating orioles have returned to local backyard feeders, and just about every critter from spiders to coyotes is pairing up. Doves are gathering nesting material and fuzzy grebe chicks are already riding on the backs of parent birds at Lake Hodges. Shiny black cormorants are already raising their featherless, black chicks, and soon gulls will be tending  eggs then fuzzy, spotted hatchlings...

DESERT OFFERS PRISTINE VIEWING OF MILKY WAY San Diego’s spring desert wildflower show may have been out of this world, but an even more unworldly show is soon to arrive in the dark night sky of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. March means that the spectacular display of star clouds known as the Milky Way arrives just before dawn in the dark desert sky. As spring turns to summer, the Milky Way rises a bit later each night, traveling across the heavens in one of America’s greatest dark sky locations. By July the shifting heavens will begin the nightly show around 9 p.m. and by late August the Milky Way will be almost directly overhead at the same hour. By fall, the Milky Way will be setting shortly after sunset. Summer crowds will be nothing like the hordes that swarmed spring wildflower fields, but you will be surprised at the number of people in the desert on the dark sky weekends when the moon is not affecting stargazing. If you are prepared for summer heat and have an off-road vehicle...